An Oxford landlord was handed fines totalling £11,500 when he appeared before Oxford Magistrates Court last week.
Juan Zaide Avila, 48, of Waynflete Road, was prosecuted after
Environmental Health Officers from the City Council found that he was
renting out a HMO in Nowell Road, Oxford, that was unlicensed and in a
poor state of disrepair.
Concerns over conditions at the property and its status were raised
when one of the tenants complained to the local councillor for Rose Hill
and Iffley, Ed Turner.
Environmental Health Officers from the HMO Enforcement Team visited the
property in April this year to follow up and deal with the tenants’
concerns. They determined the property to be an unlicensed and unsafe
HMO in disrepair.
Juan Zaide Avila pleaded guilty to being in control of an unlicensed
HMO and received a fine of £7,500 for failing to obtain a licence.
He also pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Management of Houses in
Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, and was fined £500 per
offence for four offences relating to disrepair and was fined £2,000 for
a lack of fire detection and fire doors.
In addition, the magistrate ordered Avila to pay all the council’s costs of £1,124 for bringing the case to court.
Councillor Ed Turner, board member for finance, asset management and
public health, said: “I saw this property first hand, and it was in a
very poor condition, putting those living there at risk. I am pleased
the courts have recognised the severity of the offence with the fines
imposed.”
No comments:
Post a Comment